My Favorite Book

My favortie book this year would be 'The Five Children and It' by E. Nesbit. I personaly thought this book was great and in first grade, when I tried to read it, I couldn't understand anything going on, all I knew was that it sounded like a great book. I actually read it before but read it again this year because it was so good.

'The Five Children and It', is about five children who stumble upon a creature who grants them 3 wishes but none of the wishes are quite what they wanted. It starts of with the five children and their mother, in a carriage on their way to their knew house. They put down they baby and walked among the gravel pits and find a sand fairy also known as Psammead or 'It' who will grant them three wishes. Their first wish was to look as beautiful as the day and so they did but trouble was heading their way. They had to carry their baby brother back to the house but their baby brother didn't not recognize them. The five children had to make friends with their baby brother (which they all knew would be hard) to be able to pick him up and bring him back to the house. Martha, their nursemaid only recognized the little baby brother in their arms. She had no idea who the children were standing in front of her because they were all as beautiful as they day and no longer themselves. Martha wouldn't let them in because she thought they were strangers. The four children were miserable, nothing to eat, no where to sleep and no one to watch them. They all closed their eyes and didn't believe what just happened. When they opened their eyes, they were ugly again or atleast that's what they all called each other. I think the sand fairy did this to teach them a lesson that they are who they are for a reason.

I really liked reading this book because it was really interesting and I couldn't wait to find out what would happen next like to what the message was that the sand fairy was sending to the five children.

Literature Circle Response Two

In Chapters 16-18, I think it has to do with Jonas wanting to be free of his world and to do the things he wants to do. Jonas confessed that he liked the feeling of love but no one else did so it was really hard for him to confess. He asked his dad if he loved Jonas and his dad thought he was saying something weird.

'You know about the memories,' he whispered, turning toward the crib.
Gabriel's breathing was even and deep. Jonas liked having him there, though he felt guilty about the secret. Each night he gave memories to Gabriel: memories of boat rides and picnics in the sun' memories of soft rainfall against windowpanes' memories of dancing barefoot on a damp lawn.
'Gabe?'
The newchild stirred slightly in his sleep. Jonas looked over at him.
'There could be love,' Jonas whispered. "

This shows that Jonas wants to be free. I think Gabe is a really good person to talk to because he doesn't understand what Jonas is saying and so he can say whatever he wanted to even the things that were secrets. Most people can't see color and so they aren't free but Jonas on the other hand is free and wants to free everyone else. The Giver and Gabriel can also do these things that Jonas can.

There are so many different things from the real world and Jonas's community. First of all, they would get upset about things that are unimportantand couldn't see color and had no emotions. I think that if our world didn't have color, we would be exactly like Jonas's community because I have heard that color is supposed to help you and make you happy and make you grow and I think that Jonas really wanted and needed that.

The Giver - Literature Circle Post One

In our class we received a book and my book was called The Giver. It was about a weird world about people who don't know what animals are and they each have to have atleast one girl child and one boy, in the house and they could only see black and white.

1. Would you want your future to be decided by others ? Why or Why not?
2. How do you feel about the "standard practices" and "rituals" in the community?
3. Why is interdependence fostered in the community?

Number 1:

I wouldn't want my future to be decided by others because then I won't be free and if I wan't to do something that someone says I can't or not allowed to do, I won't be so happy because I won't get to do it. Jonas's life is controlled and so he doesn't really get to do the things he wants to do. I woudln't either if I lived in a controlled community because it's clearly controlled which means some things I won't get to do.

Pharaoh IMovie Reflection

Content Rubric
Introduction~ A description of the pharaoh is relevant, factual and correct. Time he/she ruled is correct.	5	4	3	2	1
Pharaoh’s accomplishments ~ Clearly explains the important contributions the pharaoh made during his/her rule.	5	4	3	2	1
Architectural Achievements ~Clearly describes and explains the important buildings/monuments that were built during this time. Explain how evidence of their religious beliefs is shown in these buildings.	5	4	3	2	1

Skills Rubric
images ~ All images are relevant, interesting and of good quality (saved properly as a jpg). Images match narration throughout.	5	4	3	2	1
Narration ~ Voices are clear, loud and fluent with good intonation. It is obvious you have practiced your part before recording. No background noise.	5	4	3	2	1
Transitions & Effects ~ Subtle transitions between the parts of the presentation are used throughout. Any effects used only enhance the message and are compatible with the image content.	5	4	3	2	1

City Connection Reflection

Something that I did good on my presentation was that my slide was nice and neat and it was readable and it had a lot of information.

I think that maybe my project should of had something that everyone could do to grab there attention.

I saw some people that had good ideas such as Ayaka's and Dylan's presentation because it had something the whole class had to do.

I learned that people in my class have visited many different places and that everyone

in my class has there own way of presenting. I also learned from Micah's presentation, I learned that Singapore was founded by Dr. Stamford Raffles.

Overall I think I did well on the presentation and my class did well too.

Learning Profiles, Profile NN

In class, Mr. Whiting taught us about profiles using the Dominance Factor- how knowing your dominant eye, ear, side of brain, hand, foot and how this can improve my learning. I found out I was profile NN.   I am Gestalt Dominant.  I can learn using auditory and kinesthetic communication.  When I am stressed my vision and my movements are limited.

I learn best through movement and by focusing on the whole picture.    I appreciate metaphors and examples when problem solving.

I could improve my learning by sitting halfway back on the right side to hear, but where I can also move without disturbing others.  I have to do something with my hands while listening to new learning, like playing with clay, or doodling.   When listening to new information, I may have to close my eyes and turn the dominant ear toward the sound.

Things that I can do to help my learning process are activities that integrate cross-lateral movements like Lazy 8's for eyes, cross crawl, three dimensional art, blinking while tracking around the edge of an object, soccer, martial arts, Tai Chi.  I can learn better, if I can balance art, music, movement and interpersonal/intrapersonal skills while learning language and math.

I would like my teachers to know that I am quick to grasp the main idea, but I have great difficulty hearing and communicating the details in a linear way.  I will use the new ideas I have learned here to help me in my classes and see if this helps me grasp new information quicker.

 

My New Years Resolution

At the beginning of every year, millions of people, around the world, make New Year's resolutions. I will be sharing two New Year's resolutions of my own.   Both of my resolutions apply to school.
My first resolution is to be more organized. Whenever I need something important and I try looking for it in my room or my locker, I can never find it. I end up finding my things months later.  I want to work on this so that I can find my things the minute I need it.  One way I think I can get better at this is put my work away the moment I finish it, instead of waiting for a pile of items to put away.

My second resolution is to work harder on school work. I always try to work hard during activities but maybe I need to work a little harder and get better at it. Whenever I am told that I will be having a quiz or test, I wait till the last few days to study, when everyone else probably started studying 5 days before.  Even if I do get a good grade on it, I didn't spend time working hard on it and it is always harder for me to remember the information.

Over the break, I went ice skating at Sunway Pyramid with my family and my friends. I skated around that rink.  It was my second time and I was slow and scared.  At the end of the trip, I was used to skating and it was quite fun, but I wish I had realized that before I even got on the rink.  Sunway Pyramid is so large that finding a specific restaurant proved to be like a scavenger hunt in a maze - it was really complicated.

Overall, I had a wonderful holiday and I'm ready to get back into schoolwork, full speed, with my New Year's resolutions to keep me on track.